Alice Paige-Smith

A different head? Parental agency and early intervention

This paper considers the agency and identity of parents of children with Down syndrome within early intervention. It draws upon semi‐structured, conversational interviews with nine parents and the reflections of one of the authors upon their experiences within early intervention programmes. It considers how representations of the deficit model permeate the participation of the parent in this process. It explores the multiple identities of the parents and links these to notions of parental participation within the current policy context of early intervention in England. The notion of parental agency is an implicit driver within the current early intervention programmes, yet it appears to be compromised by the nature of those programmes.

‘Until the Cows Came Home’: Issues for Early Intervention Activities? Parental Perspectives on the Early Years Learning of Their Children with down Syndrome

The article reports the views of parents of children with Down syndrome in the United Kingdom, and those of a parent-researcher, who have recently been or are currently involved in early intervention programmes. It reports on a series of semi-structured interviews with nine parents of eight children with Down syndrome and the reflective engagement of the parent-researcher. The parents reflect upon learning moments and activities with their child that have been most enjoyable, effective and easy to carry out, as well as those that were difficult or a potential cause of conflict. They also prioritise situations that had a positive impact upon their childs learning. This research adds a parental voice to evidence that suggests a need to place a greater emphasis on learning that comes from the childs interests and less upon developmental goals, and the positive impact this may have for both the parents and children currently being encouraged to engage in early intervention programmes.

The socio-political context of the development of Reading Recovery in New Zealand and England

This article uses the example of Reading Recovery (RR) to argue that those who engage in reading debates should focus not only on which reading programme appears to match desirable goals in childrens literacy development but also strive for a more balanced appreciation of the complex socio-political context of debates within which reading failure and its various remedies remain contestable. In turn this will lead to a more critical and more academically sophisticated scrutiny of literacy and its diverse purposes. The development of Reading Recovery in New Zealand and England illustrates how it is not simply the efficacy of individual programmes, but a combination of that efficacy and the political context at the micro- and macro-levels that establishes, expands and eventually destabilizes new reading initiatives.

The Early Literacy Support Programme (ELS) and the blend and clash of national educational policy ideologies in England

In this article we consider the development of key policy issues in England, related to the area of literacy learning and children who are considered to have difficulties in literacy in their early years. We trace the tensions which have arisen since the 1980s between different policies and practices in these areas. These tensions include pressures to raise standards of literacy and to support children with difficulties, and the establishment of a prescribed curriculum for young children. In particular, we focus on the blend and clash of national educational policy ideals in areas related to literacy and children who have been categorised as having ‘special educational needs’, and how these have influenced the development of the Early Literacy Support Programme (ELS) (DfES, 2001a; 2001b). This is a programme set up by the Department for Education and Science in England for children in Year 1, aged 5 to 6 years old.

Reading Recovery as an Example of Early Intervention in Early Years Literacy in England.

The ways in which the Reading Recovery Programme supports children with reading difficulties is considered in this article within the context of the national development of the programme in England which began in the 1990s. We go on to describe the implementation of this early intervention programme in one London LEA. We then compare the Early Literacy Support Programme and the Reading Recovery Programme and consider how the two approaches attempt to raise standards of literacy, and support childrens literacy experiences in the early years.